Bow sockets



J- FOLB BOW SOCKETS Dec. 28, 1965 Filed May 19, 1964 INVENTOR. JACO B FOLB ATTOR NEY United States Patent 3,226,066 BOW SOCKETS Jacob Folb, 351 William St., Geneva, N.Y. Filed May 19, 1964, Ser. No. 368,568 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-40) This invention relates to bow sockets, and more particularly to bow sockets for use in supporting canvas covers on boats, tent frames and the like.

Small open boats, for protection from the weather are preferably provided with a canvas cover, that is set in place whenever the boat is left unattended and the weather Warrants. It has been the practice to support such can vas covers in an arched formation over arched bows, the ends of which have been inserted in shallow dead end sockets affixed to the upper sides of the side rails of the boat. The bows are temporarily held in upright arch formation until the canvas is applied, and upon securing the marginal edge of the canvas to the boat sides, the canvas, being stretched over the bows tends to provide additional support to the bows. This structure however does not always stand up under severe weather. The bows tip out of their sockets, the canvas sags into the boat, and instead of shedding rain water or spray, and protecting the boat, the canvas collects water in pockets and great difiiculty is had in dumping the collected water overboard.

The present invention is directed to a bow socket which may be applied to the inside face of the boat side rails or coaming and in which a deep through aperture to receive the bow ends is provided, and in which a rugged clamp screw is provided. In one form of the invention the aperture is inclined to provide temporary frictionalholding power upon the bows when initially set in place and prior to tightening the clamping screw. Such sockets are readily cast of aluminum or other alloys suitable for marine use. Such sockets may also be employed in any structure employing a canvas cover wherein support upon arched bows is desired.

The above and other novel features of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is expressly understood that the drawings are employed for purposes of illustration only and are not designed as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claim.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

FIGURE 1 is a view of a boat with its cover supported by a plurality of bows employing the bow socket;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational View of a socket;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the socket;

FIGURE 4 is an end view of the socket;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view through the socket taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view through one side of a boat to illustrate themounting thereof;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the boat side rail and the socket;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevational view of an alternative socket for use with round sectional bows;

FIGURE 9 is a top plan view of the alternative socket;

FIGURE 10 is an end view of the socket;

FIGURE 11 is a diagrammatic perspective view of an alternative use of the socket as a tent canvas support;

FIGURE 12 is a transverse sectional view taken adjacent one pair of bow sockets as used in FIGURE 11; and

FIGURE 13 is a perspective view of one support rail in folded position.

Patented Dec. 28, 1965 Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, there is shown a typical small boat 20 having a canvas cover 22 supported in arched formation as at 24, 26 and 28 upon arched bows. In FIGURE 6 there is shown a section through one side of the boat 20, wherein the cover 22 is shown as stretched over a bow 25 to the side 30 of the boat with its marginal edge releasably secured to the boat by any suitable means as indicated at 32. Upon the inside face of the side rail or coaming 34, secured to the side ribs 36, are mounted a plurality of bow sockets 38, two, three or more being aflixed at spaced intervals along the combing on each side of the boat.

In FIGURES 2 to 5 the socket is shown in detail. The socket comprises a casting of generally rectangular cross section. The body portion 50 is provided with opposed integral lugs 52 and 54 having apertures 53 to receive screws to affix the same to the coaming. The body portion is provided with a rectangular sectioned opening 56 extending from top to bottom, that inclines inwardly as is more particularly shown in FIGURE 5. The rectangular aperture, for bows of x 1%" cross section may be V x 1%" or 1%", with suitable draft as necessary, and the thickness of the back wall 58 may vary from A3" at the top to A at the bottom, while the front wall 60 varies from /1." at the top to /s" at the bottom. The end wall 62 is substantially thicker than the end wall 64, and is provided with a clamp screw 66 threaded therein, the screw having a lever 68 slidably disposed in a transverse bore in the screw 66. The lever may have ball enlargements 70 at its ends. The inclination of the aperture 56 is such as to assist in providing a frictional grip upon the bow end, in setting the same in place and prior to clamping, it being desirable that a single individual can place the bows in position and screw up the clamps, without the bows slipping out of the desired position during the process. The use of a socket wherein the aperture extends clear through, and in which clamp screws are provided, results in a bow support structure for the canvas covering that will remain in place and withstand severe windy or storming weather.

In the form shown in FIGURES 8, 9 and 10, the socket has mounting lugs 82 and 84, and a bore 86 to receive a fiber glass bow of about /3 circular section. The bore is offset to provide increased thickness along one side as at 88, to accommodate the threaded shank of the clamp screw 90.

In FIGURES 11, 12 and 13, the socket is shown applied to tent framing to support two or more spaced bows. As shown the tent framing may comprise L shaped frame members 90 and 92 of tubular stock hinged as at 94, so that the members may be folded as indicated in FIGURE 12. The ends 96 and 98 of the tubular members 90 and 92 are adapted to abut when unfolded as shown in FIG- URE 11. Each frame member may be flattened as at 100 and have afiixed thereto a socket 101 of the type shown in FIGURE 2 (or 8 if desired) as by self-tapping screws or bolts 93. Two such frames when set up can be joined by two or more bows as indicated at 102 and 104, over which the canvas of a tent may be stretched, the tent canvas, indicated in outline 106, being pinned to the ground or otherwise secured as at 108. Each of the frames may have points for insertion in the ground with depth limiting flanges 112. In practice the frames may have vertical and horizontal sections each of 3, 3 /2 or 4 feet in length depending on the desired size of the structure to be set up, and each of the bows may be in two parts with their ends joined by use of interlockink sleeves such as 114, and in practice such bows may provide arches spanning as much as six feet or more, with a height above the framing approaching as much as three feet.

It can readily be seen that if additional tent area is desired, any number of the frames and additional bow arches may be employed side by side to provide a Wide range of variations. In practice the points 110 may be eliminated and a form of staking employed. It will also be realized that the sockets can be arranged to support two crossed bows to provide a dome support, or the sockets can be provided with ground pins to support bows at ground level to provide in effect a low pup tent structure, without the framing of FIGURES 11 to 13.

It will be seen that the sockets, with their oifset bow apertures, provide a heavy socket thickness for a threaded aperture of substantial length to receive the clamp screws 66 and 90 respectively, and that the sockets are adapted, when used on boats, to be added as a permanent fixture.

While several forms of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. As various changes in the construction and arrangement may be made without deparating from the spirit of the invention, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, reference will be had to the appended claim for a definition of the limits of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A bow socket comprising a body portion having a bow receiving aperture of rectangular cross section extending therethrough from top to bottom, and integral attachment lugs lying in a common plane and extending laterally and oppositely from the body portion adjacent the upper end and to one side thereof, the Wall of said aperture being substantially thicker laterally at one end only thereof, and having threaded therein a clamp screw disposed on an axis transverse of the aperture and lying in a plane parallel with the plane of said lugs, said aperture from top to bottom being of substantially uniform cross section, and inclining away from the plane of said lugs.

References (Iited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,251,532 1/1918 Higgins 296-118 2,287,762 6/1942 Rogofi" 339272 2,869,562 1/1959 Francis 1355 2,973,930 3/1961 Smith 2484O ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner.

H. V. STAHLHUTH, Assistant Examiner. 

